Solar Shower, + Great Tips!

Our van mounted solar panel has greatly expanded our camping options, so we recently purchased an Advanced Elements 3 gallon solar Shower, for use in our very basic Ozark Trail privy tent. It arrived via General Delivery on Friday. Prior to this, we had made do with a bucket of water left out to warm in the sun.

Our first attempt, using the hook in the center of the ceiling of the privy tent, had the bottom of the solar shower hanging 4 feet above the floor, making for a very awkward and unsatisfactory experience.

But it was our good fortune that the young couple camping next to us was smitten by our camper. We finished watching a video of three early Jackie Chan movies, and thought they and their kids might enjoy watching it, saving us from having to drop it off at a Goodwill at some point in the future. That led to a discussion about how a friend of theirs had a similar tent and had devised a means to hang the shower outside the tent and route the shower head inside.

It took some pondering, but I managed to improvise a way to accomplish this with some items that we had on hand: about five feet of paracord, a carabiner and a stainless steel spring clip.

I tied one end of paracord to the carabiner, then threaded the other end of the cord through the pole junction (from which the original shower hook was suspended) and then back to the front of the shower.

I then pulled the cord through, so that the carabiner was at the apex of the tent.





Next, I tied the spring clip on the paracord, parallel to just below where there is a metal loop on one of the tent poles, where we can attach a rain fly to the tent. Once the shower is suspended from the carabiner, it is hoisted to the apex (to do this, use one hand to lift the shower up while pulling down on the paracord) and the spring clip is attached to the pole clip. When the shower is released, the top settles to a few inches below the apex. In this position, the shower hose is roughly parallel with the top of the door zipper. It is a simple matter to run the hose inside, where you have plenty of room to take your shower.





Another tip is to place the shower in a position with good sun exposure. That way you can direct the energy absorbent side toward the sun to heat the water. When warm enough, flip it over to the reflective side until you are ready to shower.

 

Yes, I do travel with my wife. It is whatever works for the couple that matters the most, not what either of us individually wants or needs. We are on our journey together. On

In 1985 & 1986, I travelled 17,000 solo miles by bike. Hygiene wasn't a huge priority and bathing was generally done in a cold stream, rather than paying for anything more conventional (or sometimes in a McDonalds bathroom). If it thrilled anyone to watch, I hope I made their day.

I agree that modesty is over-rated, but that is what others expect. Personally I think all public bathrooms should be gender neutral. One of my first experiences in Belgium in 1967 was of standing at a urinal to pee, when a women backed up to the urinal beside me to do the same thing. I learned later that it was cheaper to tip to use the urinal than the toilet (and there were no urinals on the women's side)!

I have camped in a minimalist style a LOT. I enjoyed the freedom that it gave me, but eventually I would find circumstances where living like that was far less than enjoyable. I often wanted a comfortable, warm place sleep, or a decent chair to sit in. That rarely happens now. We have some simple luxuries, but those are always balanced with how much stuff can we carry with us before it becomes an ordeal to find what you need? Thus far, aside from setting up the toilet in the privy shelter, so that nobody needs to watch either of us clean our backsides, we can get at any of our gear without having to move any other gear out of the way to do so. Everything is directly accessible, by design. Everything is also secured, so that the 2000 watt generator doesn't find a place in either of our epitaphs.

A lesson I learned while bicycle touring was to create your own solutions. If you do what you do and not what everyone else does, not many of other folk's solutions will have much relevance. The important thing is to share what you know and learn, just in case it is relevant to someone else.